Things are starting to get really emotional.

On Dancing With the Stars Season 21 Episode 9, the couples danced routines inspired by their personal icons. The result? A night full of emotional, powerful dances that blew our minds.

Oh, and Nick and his wife learned the sex of their baby on live television. I'll admit, this shocks me a quite bit, but it does make for good television! The announcement was made by opening a box filled with blue balloons.

They're having a Backstreet boy, you guys.

My favorite dances of the competition were Nick and Sharna's Contemporary (because, obviously) and Bindi and Derek's Foxtrot. The truth is, though, that everyone is doing really well, and it feels like it could be anyone's game. There isn't anyone left in this competition that shouldn't be there, but it's also tough to tell who might end up going home each week.

There were two rounds to the competition this week. The first round included the traditional dances, and the second was a dance off challenge.

I love the dance off challenge for a couple of reasons. First, is that it's simply a lot of fun to watch. It adds a different element to the competition that feels exciting. Also, it seems, at least on paper, to make the competition a little bit more fair.

I'm never fully clear on how the voting and judging points work (is everyone) but the dance off seems to focus on judges scores, despite the fact that the audience was given the opportunity to share their opinion. That part is actually pretty confusing, but the point is, the whole thing does seem more fair.

What would be better, though, would be a dance off for each elimination. Dancing with the Stars has done this in the past. They had the two bottom couples dance off against one another, and the judges made the decision of who to send home. I'd love to see that kind of dance off come back.

At the end of the night, another couple was eliminated. Of all of the couples left, I think we're really only going to be left with surprising eliminations at this point. Everyone is good. Everyone is trying. Everyone is likable.

This week, however, in another rushed elimination, we learned that the next couple to go home was Andy and Allison.

Yep, that one is pretty shocking. Andy and Allison have been so much fun to watch all season, and it's painful that he went home after such an emotional dance to honor his mother. He handled it with grace, and he even went out on an extra handspring. So not all is lost.

What did you think of the competition this week? Which dance was your favorite, and how did you feel about that elimination? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Here are this week's scores!

• Carlos and Witney (Salsa): 27
• Alek and Lindsey (Contemporary): 25
• Andy and Allison (Viennese Waltz): 22 -- ELIMINATED
• Alexa and Mark (Argentine Tango): 25
• Nick and Sharna (Contemporary): 30
• Bindi and Derek (Foxtrot): 28
• Tamar and Val (Paso Doble): 28

Dancing with the Stars Season 21: Meet the Contestants!

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Ashley Bissette Sumerel was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in September 2017. Follow her on Twitter and on Google+.